Sunday 6 September 2009

back


it was only a matter of time now. the border was five hours away at the most.

i could have postponed the inevitable by diverting to thunder bay and entering via the north shore of minnesota but the funds wouldn’t allow it.

i could have stopped in toronto for a tea with a former student and a tagging of a minor cbc presenter, but the 401 put me in a trance and the g.t.a. isn’t all that welcoming from the road.

down the 401 to the 402 and while i was settling into highway coma it was ending.

in sarnia i stopped to buy up the timbits on the canadian side - thinking they would be more authentic - even though there would be two more tim’s in michigan. then back on the road to cross over the river.

entering canada took 20 minutes, entering the states two hours. approaching the booth, a flash, i realise that my snap has been made just in case... the u.s. is testing a balloon with a high definition camera in it over port huron aimed at the border. the officer, efficient, asking questions he already knows the answer to, then waves me on.

the interstate was worse than the trans-canada in quebéc, there it was rough but not pot-holed. it seemed that economic “south” was further north than one would like to admit.

bumper stickers along I-69:

nuke their ass then take their gas
keep my flag off your import
national security begins in the womb

a sudden incentive to apply to the conche residency immediately.